How I Learn (sort of...)

What is dysgraphia?

It sounds scientific (from the Greek roots dys and
graphia) and specific but when you start looking at
medical dictionaries and other reference tools you will encounter
quite a range of descriptions. One medical dictionary described
it as "writer's cramp." Here is the current description used by
professionals dealing with learning disabilities.

Dysgraphia describes a person whose writing skills fall
substantially below those expected given the individual's
chronological age, measured intelligence, and age-appropriate
education. The person must exhibit average to above-average
intelligence. Additionally, any learning disability cannot be the
result of sensory impairment (e.g., visual problems, hearing
problems), broad-based neurological impairment (e.g., epilepsy),
or psychological problems (e.g., depression, anxiety). Cultural
and language factors must also be ruled out as possible
explanations.

It is believed there are three possible causes of any learning
disability: genetic transmission, problems during early fetal or
childhood development, or traumatic brain injury. Genetic causes
are believed to be the most prevalent.

Introduction

Hello, I have been diagnosed with dysgraphia.

Don't panic! It is not contagious, it is not a terminal illness, and it
doesn't mean that I am likely to do strange, socially
unacceptable things.

Before you rush off to find a medical dictionary let me
explain. Dysgraphia, in simplest terms, describes a person who
has difficulty writing. Like other learning disabilities,
dysgraphia is a neurological disorder which often has a genetic
(or hereditary) component - in other words, it tends to run in
families (if your parents, siblings, or other family members have
it you are more likely to have it too). Although I am the only
member of my family (so far) who has been officially diagnosed
with dysgraphia, the symptoms are evident in my father, three of
my siblings, both of my children, and my grandson.

My case of dysgraphia is quite specific

It affects primarily my handwriting. I do not have difficulty with reading
or with understanding spoken language. I can write using a
typewriter (remember those quaint old machines?) or computer with
relative ease - although even here I am slower than average. I do
not have difficulty with spelling, grammar, composition, sentence
structure, or punctuation. My handwriting is not especially messy
or illegible. I was never able to master cursive writing so
everything is done in block letters. It's not
that I couldn't or didn't learn cursive writing, the dysgraphia
just makes cursive writing even slower and more difficult than
the printing I learned first.

In either case, handwritten or machine-assisted, my slowness
in writing is not caused by slowness in the mechanical process -
both my typing speed and the rate at which I form handwritten
letters are good - it is the result of the time it takes to form
thoughts into words and sentences. The problem is not that I
can't write, it's just that writing comes much more slowly
than for the average person.

What does this mean in my day-to-day life?

Outside of school it is not much of a hindrance. I dislike filling in forms
or doing anything else that requires handwriting more than a few
words at a time. I use a machine for any writing tasks that I
can.

In school, I have no difficulty at all with tests which
are administered in multiple-choice, true/false, or
fill-in-the-blank formats. Short answer exams are more difficult
and exams composed entirely of essay questions are nearly
impossible for me to complete within a normal time. These
writing-intensive exams are less a problem for me if modified in
one of the following ways (listed in descending order of my
preference): allow additional time to complete the exam using a
computer or typewriter, oral face-to-face examinations, or
tape-record my oral answers to the exam questions. Other writing
assignments require little adjustment, but I don't write well on
assignments with short time deadlines.